Thursday, June 24, 2010

Members of the local EWB chapter recently returned from an assessment trip to Camoapa, Nicaragua in a partnership with the Aracta-Camoapa Sister City Project.

We are currently developing the following projects:

• Hospital well pump. Currently the hospital relies on city water. But due to tank elevations and upstream system demands, the hospital is often without water. In response, untreated water is trucked in and patients are required to bring their own potable water. There is a well about 300 meters away that was drilled and donated by the city of Camoapa. EWB will conduct pump and quality tests to design and install a pump and transmission line from the well to the hospital.

• The current water distribution system for the city of ~15,000 is entirely within one pressure zone. They would like to create separate zones that can be isolated. This will allow them to provide more water and make it easier to conduct repairs. EWB will be assisting the city engineers with a hydraulic analysis on how to improve the water system.

• Humboldt State Engineering students will be building a hand powered rope pump, commonly used in Nicaragua for pumping water from shallow wells.

About EWB-NCP

We are the Engineers Without Borders' Northcoast Professional Chapter. EWB is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.